The Island of Care in the Sea of Hatred
by Metroid Life
Summary: Zero muses over why he hates Popstar so much... and a lost friend as well.


They call me the ultimate evil, the devourer of hope, and they couldn't be more right. Just… not for the reasons they think. I suppose I am evil, though I have never been able to judge that myself. I don't see what I do as evil, just necessary. I drain the joy and hope from worlds, because I can never feel myself. If I cannot be happy, then why should they? My name is Zero, and the closest I've come to happiness is the sight of my enemies slain, their worlds shrouded in darkness, and even then it is simple satisfaction of a job well done. Even now, I'm seeking my next target. I wait in the emptiness of space, watching. I see my enemy, the one called Kirby, far away on his tiny world. It is called Popstar, and on a whole, it matters very little. Unlike other worlds, it has not discovered anything worthy of my attention. It has no warring factions I can manipulate, nor even anything truly evil. This world has nothing of value to me, so why do I keep returning there? I find myself drawn to it, like a starving man to food. The only reason I can fathom for this is how much I hate it. This world represents everything that I am not. On it there no strife, no war, but there is happiness and peace, those things I can never have, but have always longed for. I once tried to find happiness, but it is simply impossible. Everything I touch is destroyed, those I tried to befriend were driven mad by my mere presence. My creations, the Dark Matter, have no minds of their own, so I am left alone in the depths of space, forever. Even when I didn't truly show myself, when I thought that perhaps if I could help someone, it would make me feel happy, those I choose to help were utterly doomed… like Drawcia.

She was such a simple soul, and her wish was well within my power. She wanted to make her world more beautiful, more vibrant. Though I hated Popstar, and had tried to conquer it twice before, her spirit moved me in a way nothing else had. She wanted this wish more than anything else, it was all she cared about. Intrigued, I met with her through my Dark Matter, since I couldn't meet her in person, so I could offer her my power. But she was different from my other pawns. They had wanted my power to conquer some nation, to end long standing rivalries, to simply hold on to their position and self-proclaimed importance. But her… she had no vile motives. She simply wanted dearly for her world to be as colorful as one of her paintings, to make it into her ultimate work of art. So I could understand what that meant, she even showed me her paintings. I never really understood the concept of beauty, the reason behind art, but she had such enthusiasm, such joy that even I could see why she did it. It was sheer reckless abandon. She poured her heart into her paintings, much as I had devoted my life to destruction. I don't know why she cared for them so, but it didn't matter. Her zealous determination reached me as nothing else had, and for the first and only time in my life, I felt happy. It was wonderful, so different from the hate that I had until then. I wanted her to be happy too, so I did everything in my power to grant her wish. I thought that she, of all people, would be able to do it. To feel my true strength, use it, and still come back intact. But I should have realized that the entire time, my clinging to her was like the ocean trying to warm itself with a candlestick. Her wish was granted, but at a terrible price to both of us. I lost the only person who I could ever call a friend to madness, and her world became a bright and colorful and dead as a painting. I had hoped that eventually I would find a cure, something to bring her back to sanity, but that feeble hope was dashed when Kirby, trying to save his world yet again, killed her.

He… he killed her, the one person who I cared about. The only person who gave my life any meaning besides despair and hate. So, I suppose what I said before was a lie. Now I have two reasons to return to Popstar: Because it represents what I cannot have, and because Kirby happens to live there. I thought I hated everything, but Drawcia proved me wrong. I thought I could finally be happy, but Kirby wouldn't allow it. Well, if you want me to be a horrible monster, then that's what I will be. Tell me, Kirby, do you know why I return from the dead when you kill me? Because my hate was the only thing keeping me going in the first place, and that fire stills burns, like a vengeful ghost that cannot move on. I will return from death, again and again, until you are finally destroyed. No, I don't think that is enough. You destroyed the one thing I cared for, so now? I will destroy everything! Everything you care about, every scrap of happiness, every single thing you have ever loved, will die. It will all burn. And then, only then, when you truly see the tragedy your actions have brought upon you, when you feel the same pain that I have felt, only then will I snuff out your pitiful life. After that, I only have one wish. That my hate will die with you, so that I can finally move on to the afterlife. There, perhaps, I will find peace… Drawcia, are you waiting for me there? Then I am coming, my love, I am coming…


End file.
